Rock fans may want to reconsider the phrase “Disco sucks.”
In a clip that appears to be from the Paramount+ series “From Cradle to Stage,” Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl chats with beatmaster Pharrell Williams about the truly mind-blowing inspiration behind some of the most legendary drum beats in rock history.
In the clip (which you can see directly above), the former member of Nirvana tells Williams he wanted to be in a drumline in school, but couldn’t read music — and admits he still can’t. Williams recalls being a decent drummer, “but not at your level,” he tells Grohl.
But Grohl insists, “I’m the most basic fucking drummer.”
He then casually drops some very juicy information about the beats he used on Nirvana’s iconic 1991 album, “Nevermind.”
“If you listen to Nevermind ... I pulled so much stuff from the Gap Band and Cameo and Tony Thompson [of the band Chic] on every one of those songs,” Grohl says.
He adds: “All that ... that’s old disco!”
“Wow!” Pharrell says, looking genuinely shocked.
The clip compares Nirvana’s grunge anthem “Smells Like Teen Spirit” to the Gap Band’s1980 song “Burn Rubber On Me.”
“That’s all it is!” Grohl promises a stunned Williams. “Nobody makes the connection.”
The clip also features a very satisfying bit in which Grohl confesses to Thompson that he’s been “ripping you off my whole life.”
This may explain why the Foo Fighters’ next album will be a cover of BeeGees songs, according to the BBC. As the “Dee Gees,” a name that’s a nod to Grohl’s initials, the band will release an LP of the 1970s disco classics “Night Fever,” “Tragedy,” “You Should Be Dancing” and “More Than a Woman.”
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article named the incorrect Gap Band song playing in the “From Cradle to Stage” clip. It is “Burn Rubber On Me,” not “You Dropped A Bomb On Me.”